All in with the Duke

Gambling on Love, Book 1

By: Ava March

Narrated by: Timothy Holcomb

London, 1822

Max Arrington, the Duke of Pelham, vows to never again let a handsome face blind him to a man's true intentions. But ten months of celibacy and lonely nights drive him to a decadent brothel, where a beautiful young man arouses his illicit passions as never before.

Tristan Walsh has grown tired of being used for men's pleasure. But his latest client is different: Commanding yet generous, Max makes him feel cared for as well as wanted. Yet Tristan knows he'll never have the choice to leave the brothel and submit only to Max.

So when Max invites him to be his guest at his country estate, Tristan eagerly agrees to his terms-days to do as he pleases while Max tends to the dukedom, and nights spent together in wicked play. But when the "business arrangement" begins to deepen into something more, Tristan must face the fact that he has no true place in Max's life - or in Max's guarded heart...

©2013 Ava March (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Main character became increasingly unsympathetic

Tristan was rather demanding, haughty, and ungrateful for a whore. The way he expected a Duke to woo him as if he was a virginal debutante was quite unreasonable and unbelievable, it became extremely tiring. Max should not have had to grovel for Tristan's love. He was not deserving of Max's love because he did not recognize it when it was right in his face. What in the hell did he have to lose? To be honest, he was not worth it. By the end, I actually hated Tristan and saw him as a whiny ass whore.

First Historical Romance :)

I actually enjoyed this book. At times I had to look up some of the old English sayings, but it was a fun read. She gave enough detail I actually could see the scenes from the book play out. I actually purchased the eBook/Audio version and have to say the narrator added to the feel of it but I wish he possessed more scale. I will definitely move on to the next in the series.

Darn Good Romance

This book was my type of book....after all, who buys one of these without wanting to read them! But I mean not only is it the genre that I like, it was a book within the genre that I actually cared for. I did not find it cheesy or too light or too ....... anything. It was just a good romance that happened to be between two guys. It was about am I right for this relationship? Am I doing the right thing for myself? For the other? Am I enough or not of what they need? You know, all that self-questioning and worry we get as we delve into a relationship.

The sex scenes were explicit and well-written as part of the story not as THE story. In other words, not just gratuitous sex scenes, but rather they were moments that showed you something about a character's mind or feelings or moved the story along (for the most part).

The story was well written and thoughtful but predictable,,,,,,but who cares, it's pleasure reading not deep meaning time or literature class.

The only complaint I have is that the narrator chose unappealing voices for all characters except the Duke. He gave the love interest an accent that I thought made him sound dumb and uneducated and unattractive. He also gave a similar voice as either the Duke or his love interested to all other characters (they were all minor characters) and so sometimes it was hard to tell who was speaking. Also, the characters were 20-somethings and the narrator sounds considerably older. The narrator did a fabulous job with getting emotions, intonations and the sighs and curses spewing from all those hot and heavy moments spot-on.

Poor performance

I don’t ever want to listen to Timothy Holcomb narrate any other book. He is monotone and uninteresting. My mind wonders because he is so flat. There’s no depth to his voice All characters have the same “voice”. I will use this book at bedtime because he puts me to sleep!

Enjoyable Story, Good Romance

3.5 stars for the book/story, 3 stars for the narrator
I enjoyed this audiobook. The story wasn't super original or unpredictable, but it was still quite good. The whole negotiation scene at the end went on way longer than I'd have expected, which is what gave it the extra .5 from me - nicely done. And the BDSM is creative and works beautifully with the characters.

As far as the narrator is concerned, his voice is lovely and very rich - I just would have liked more of a difference between Max and Tristan's voices.